Carlin, Kuhn Abide By Their Superstition

AKRON -ÊMany athletes have superstitions or specific routines they must follow before each contest, but two Tippecanoe Valley senior tracksters have one that is a bit out of the ordinary.

Eric Carlin and Craig Kuhn's superstitious ritual does not begin the day of a meet, but the day before they compete.

"The day before a meet, we go to the Detroit St. Penguin Point," said Kuhn.

"We get a Big Wally value meal and a lemonade," added Carlin.

"It's $4.19," said Kuhn. "It started last year when we went to Warsaw to get spikes for Eric before the TRC (Three Rivers Conference) meet. We stopped to eat at Penguin Point and the next day we won the conference meet. It just kept going from there.

"We've been doing it since the TRC track meet last year. We did it during football and basketball this year and have continued during track."

The day before a track meet, Kuhn and Carlin can be seen at the Detroit St. Penguin Point, usually in the same parking place, getting the usual.

"The people at Penguin Point know what we want before we order now," said Kuhn. "The cooks see us and automatically know what we want."

This out of the ordinary ritual seems to be working for the Valley pair.

"Not counting this track season, we are 22-4," said Carlin. "We forgot to go before semistate (in basketball this season) because Craig had to go to Frankfort to practice."

Although the duo tries to take the same route to Warsaw each time, don't expect to see the same driver twice in a row.

"We rotate drivers," said Carlin. "That's part of it."

"One time Eric drove twice in a row during basketball season right before the Glenn game," said Kuhn. "That was when we got two of the four losses."

The two hope the magic of the ritual continues today as they travel to Kokomo for the regional competition. Carlin will compete in the second heat of the 300 low hurdles preliminaries and in the second heat of the 110 high hurdles preliminaries, while Kuhn will compete in the third flight of the shot put competition.

"I hope to go on to state," said Carlin. "I think I have a good shot. I'm seeded third in the highs and the top three go on, so I think I have a pretty good chance. I'd like to run a 14.6 in

the highs and get below 40 in the lows."

"I don't know where I'm seeded in the lows, but I hope I have a time good enough to go on."

"I'd like to throw a personal best of 48 (feet)," said Kuhn. "I haven't been close to that this season except for one in practice, but I threw it last year."

Along with Kuhn and Carlin, several athletes from Whitko, Triton and Manchester will compete in the Kokomo Regional tonight at 6. Athletes from Warsaw, Wawasee and NorthWood will travel to Fort Wayne for the Wayne Regional at 5 p.m. today.

Wayne Sectional

Tonight at 5 p.m. in Fort Wayne

Area regional competitors

Warsaw -Ê400 relay team (Aaron Chabot, Jared Scrafton, Brad Seiss, Adam Sisson); Scrafton (110 high hurdles); Chabot (100); Scott Hill (200); Grady Randall (300 intermediate hurdles); Rob Peters (800); Greg Seiss (800); Brad Seiss (high jump); Jacob Fitzsimmons (high jump); Jarod Leasure (shot put, discus); Cory Gackenheimer (pole vault); Zach Scheetz (pole vault)

NorthWood -ÊNick Juday (110 high hurdles); Aaron Hoover (1600, 3200); Ian Reed (long jump, high jump)

Wawasee -ÊRob Chalfant (3200); Jerid Stoffel (800)

Kokomo Sectional

Tonight at 6 p.m. in Kokomo

Area regional competitors

Whitko -Ê1600 relay team (Michah Moncrief, Brent Goble, Tylen Hull, Mike McKeighen); 3200 relay team (McKeighen, Moncrief, Hull, Philip Fetro); Tylen Hull (800)

Manchester -Ê1600 relay team (Annon Gaerte, Nate Kerr, Josh Whiteman, Trent Penrod); Gaerte (110 high hurdles, 300 intermediate hurdles); Kerr (400); Nick Winters (shot put); David Bazzoni (pole vault)

Tippecanoe Valley -Ê400 relay team (Eric Carlin, Casey Wise, Kevin Paxton, David Tilden); Carlin (110 high hurdles, 300 intermediate hurdles); Jeff Whetstone (1600); Craig Kuhn (shot put)

Triton -Ê1600 relay team (Chico Pizano, Brent Hammond, Matthew Anders, Brandon Zeider); Anders (200, 400); Aaron Trieschman (discus); James Read (high jump); Matthew Yankovich (pole vault)